


Inktober/Writinktober Collection

by Zacksy



Category: Inktober - Fandom, No Fandom, own work - Fandom
Genre: Apocalypse, Dystopia, F/F, F/M, Inktober, Inktober 2017, M/M, Other, Tumblr Prompt, post apocalyptic, there are going to be way too many tags, tw death, writinktober
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-07 14:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12235224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zacksy/pseuds/Zacksy
Summary: So, I decided to improve my writing skills by writing a short story a day for "inktober". My inspiration is the inktober list "post apocalyptic wanderers" by dropthedrawing [@ tumblr]!An extract of the first chapter:She looked into the sky because she was sure it was just midday but it was just so dark. The sky or even clouds were not visible due to the dust. It looked like everything was engulfed in a veil of fog.“Dad?” Her voice was raspy and hoarse and speaking aloud hurt a lot more than it already did. She coughed again. Her hearing got better by the second and breathing got a little more bearable.“Dad?!” She yelled a little louder but her voice was drowned by all the other cries for help. Now she really wanted to cry. She didn’t know what to do and no one had the time to come to her and help. She had to find her dad.





	1. Father and Daughter

The first thing she saw after it happened was dust. Just lots and lots of dust floating through the air, blurring her vision and rasping in her lungs. She coughed a few times, crawling on all fours, trying to get away from it but it was everywhere.

The dust and smoke burned in her eyes, her mouth was almost completely dry and she saw nothing but rubble. She wanted to cry. After letting herself give in in a few seconds of panic she tried to relax, to assert the situation.

She made it out of the rubble into the street and it was then she realized she wasn’t able to hear properly. Her ears were ringing and people were running around but she only heard their screaming and crying muffledly.

She looked into the sky because she was sure it was just midday but it was just so dark. The sky or even clouds were not visible due to the dust. It looked like everything was engulfed in a veil of fog.  

“Dad?” Her voice was raspy and hoarse and speaking aloud hurt a lot more than it already did. She coughed again. Her hearing got better by the second and breathing got a little more bearable.

“Dad?!” She yelled a little louder but her voice was drowned by all the other cries for help. Now she really wanted to cry. She didn’t know what to do and no one had the time to come to her and help. She had to find her dad.

Deep down she feared her dad was crushed by all the debris like so many, therefore, she didn’t want to turn around to look at their house. She wandered up and down on the front yard not too far away looking for… something. She was eleven what was she supposed to do?

The time flew by without her noticing and the people around her grew more and more silent, finding their loved ones or grieving or searching somewhere else or making themselves useful. They do something. And she, she was just standing in front of her house, well, at least, what was rest of it.

It was then when someone walked in her direction. She didn’t notice them and was just starring on a fixed point without focusing. The person walked faster and little by little yelled louder.

“Sophie? Sophie! Sophie!”

She looked up as if she was slapped in the face. Her eyes were filling with tears when she finally saw her dad running towards her.

“Dad!” she whimpered and when he rushed her into his arms she just cried. “Dad!”

“Oh, Sophie!” he caressed her head hugging her tightly never wanting to let her go again. His eyes were watering, too, just so happy to have found her. “I’m so sorry, love. I’m so sorry.” She clung to him with her small arms around his neck crying on his shoulder.  

It took her a long time to settle down but she still pressed her face into his shirt. Her dad had sat down after a while rocking her back and forth, kissing her head over and over again.

That was about 5 years ago.

Sophie relived this day every night in her dreams and her father had to calm her down every other night. This memory was never letting go of her. This night was a night in which she just woke up drenched in sweat but without screaming. She lay in her sleeping bag in front of a burned down fire place with her father on the other side. It was still dark and the sky was clear with stars.

Sophie started counting the stars to calm down. It always helped her. The nights were always silent since that day. But it was also very dark. No street lamps, no light in the windows of houses, no passing by cars with headlights. Just the stars and moon on a clear sky.

They were on the highway heading north. It was said there were a city build up by the survivors and it’s called “The Hive”. Sophie always wondered were the name came from and made sure to ask when they reached it.

She was calmed down enough to close her eyes again without seeing all of it happening and trying to sleep again when she heard some rustling and sniffing. Her eyes sprung open. Silence. Her breathing stopped and she just listened.

Nothing. She waited for a few more seconds and relaxed. Sniffing again. She clenched her teeth and slowly turned her head to her father.

“Dad!” she whispered. “Dad!”

Her dad tensed and turned to face her. His eyes were alerted. They both kind of grew accustomed to dangerous encounters and learned to be fast asleep as well as fast awake.

They both starred at each other listening into the night. There was something. They heard footsteps and rustling and something sniffing. Sophie’s finger clutched around the bat she had with her in her sleeping bag and after nodding to her father she threw the top of the sleeping bag back, was at her feet in one swift movement and held the bat above her head.

The dog was so scarred he froze in every motion starring at Sophie. He was scrawny and he panted heavily. He probably didn’t have the strength to flee.

Sophie breathed out and relaxed. “It’s just a dog.” A dog, even a big and dangerous one, she could handle, it was something else she and her father feared.

Sophie crunched down holding out her hand. “Hey, boy, what’s up?” The dog still didn’t move. His tail was between his legs and he was trembling.

“Hey, listen, sorry, for frightening you.” Sophie’s heart ached seeing the animal so afraid of her. Her father came beside her. “He’s probably just as hungry as we are.” he mumbled. He held out a small chunk of bread and when the dog smelled food his ears were popping up and without a fear in the world walked up to them and ate it right out of his hand.

Sophie smiled. She always dreamt of having a pet dog and couldn’t help but petting his head and back. “Good boy!” The dog’s tail began to waggle and he licked her hands.

Sophie’s father sat back down breathing out heavily.

“You okay?” She looked at him over her shoulder. He was looking up at the stars, defeated.

“You know,” he began quiet, “sometimes I wish he would come up to us like this. Just out of nowhere. Just being totally without a care. “Yo, whassup?” like he was, you know?”

Sophie averted her gaze, paying attention to the dog. She knew her father missed his husband. She missed her daddy, too. The first day after he found her they were searching for him but couldn’t find him so they went to where everyone was going in hope of finding him there.

“You hadn’t seen him that day, did you?”

She shook her head.

The day it happened she didn’t see him. But she knew. When hell broke loose and everything broke down around her, her daddy came sprinting down the stairs wrapped his arms around her and the walls broke down around them.

When she woke up to all the dust and smoke she felt his cold and stiff body around her. He protected her before she even could say good morning to him on that totally normal Sunday. He had shielded her with all his might. She couldn’t tell her dad that she just had stood up and went away. She hadn’t looked back, therefore, she didn’t see him. But she knew.  


	2. The Girl and her Dog

His very first memory was about his family. They were running in the garden throwing the ball for him to catch (he couldn’t) and to bring it back. They were tossing it round and round and he would always get a good pet or even a goody when he was especially fast.

That were the good old days when everyone was still there. Blue didn’t know what happened or couldn’t even understand. He just knew that the world looked totally different one day and he was all alone. The house, the garden, his family, just gone. No more ball tossing, no more goodies, no more long evenings on the couch at their feet.

Blue was trotting through the abandoned streets on his daily search for food which was scarce. Whenever he found something he first would bring it back to his home in hope that, somehow, they would show up again. But after a short time his hunger would be too great and he would eat the food alone. He always felt regret after eating alone and searched for more food right after so he could share it with his family.

This habit went on for a few weeks and there was no food anywhere nearby anymore so Blue had to think about something. He either could search even farther or he could abandon his post. He decided for the former.

So, now he went through the paths he already emptied on his search and had to go even further for just a little molded bread or even a small puddle to drink. Today didn’t seem to be his lucky day. He could nowhere smell something that even remotely smelled of food and when the sun was on his way down he decided that today he wouldn’t be able to get something to eat.

After a long day without bearing fruit Blue turned into the driveway of his home. It took him a couple of seconds to notice the faint scent he was so familiar with. His ears popped up and he stood still, sniffing the air. There it was!

Without thinking blue began to bark. He looked around trying to find the path the scent took and began to run. The scent grew more prominent and he could just feel it in the air, she was close! He barked again when the street took another turn and there she was. Walking on the sidewalk, which wasn’t really necessary anymore but she liked to stick to the rules she grew up with.

Her head flung up and back and when she saw Blue running up to her, her eyes filled with water and she ran towards him, too. He was way to heavy even though he was just about 6 months old and when he jumped up to her she just fell down. He licked her face over and over and his tail was wagging so much his whole body was shaking.

“Blue! Ah! You’re okay!” she laughed and cried at the same time and Blue was a little confused what she was feeling but somehow he understood. He was so relieved to have one of his family back.

She patted his head and his back and his stomach and he couldn’t stop trampling and rolling over her. After a while she had to calm him down or else it would go on like this forever. They were both panting lying on the ground. She rubbed his ears one last time. “Good boy.”

He got up from her to let her stand up again and jump around her some more.

“Blue!” she laughed. “It’s okay! I’m here!”

Blue discovered that after everything happened she was carried by some neighbors to something like a first aid station where everyone gathered and tried to calm down and to just understand what was happening. She was the only one of his family left.

But the same as for him was, that they were running out of food. They had canned food for a few weeks but they were way too many to feed and they now were debating what they were about to do.

Blue and his sister came back to the camp and she gave him some of her ration to eat.

“You’re probably really hungry, aren’t you?” Blue snatched the food right after she was offering it to him and gulped it down after a few bites which made her laugh.

They didn’t have much time to rest when they heard the argument about the food rations growing louder and louder. No one wanted to give up more food because everyone was hungry. Everyone had a reason, be it a baby, a sick child, elderly people or whatever.

Blue and she were looking at each other.

“You know, Blue, I actually already made up my mind… I went home to say good bye one last time.” She crotched down to him. “I’m going to leave. I don’t want to argue with them and I want to know what’s going on. Do you wanna come with me?”

Blue cocked his head. How was that a question? Of course he was coming! He wagged his tail and barked as his form of confirmation. She smiled. “Thank you, Blue.”

They didn’t waste any time. She packed her stuff that was just a few things and the rest of her food ration into her bag and tied her jacket around her waist. It was always hot these days. They both went to the tent where the arguing was coming from and Blue had to wait just for a few moments after she went into it. The voices got riled up for a second and he heard her yelling, too. Blue sprang into action right next to her and growled at the person opposite.

“We’re leaving.” she said once more and whistled to Blue to come with her. He woofed at them deeply and trotted back to her side. She was always strong and he knew he didn’t had to help her.

The spent the next five years rummaging around the country. They waked through abandoned cities and villages, trough forests and meadows, climbing hills and rolling downhill. Blue never knew the world was that big and he had the fun of his life.

But somehow she was getting slower and slower each day. She would sleep always a little bit more but ate less. Her face got more and more pale but whatever he did to cheer her up, she would smile and say that everything is okay. Blue knew, it wasn’t okay but she was strong.

They walked along a path that seemed to be a big street a few years ago and the horizon seemed endless. Blue ran with all his might in every direction, there was just so much space! But every now and then he returned to her who was walking slowly by the side of the road.

The sun went down behind some mountains and it was dark earlier than usual and she said she wanted to rest. Blue didn’t reject. She sat down next to big a rock, drinking a sip of their last bottle of water and gave the rest to Blue.

“Well, we ought to find some more water soon.” She mumbled. Blue sat beside her, resting his head on her leg.

“Good boy.” she tickled his ears. “Say, Blue,” she looked into the darkening sky, “do you want to know, what’s going on, too?” She sighed. “We kinda never got to know what was happening back then, did we?” Her tickling stopped after some time. “Blue, I’m tired. Keep an eye out but don’t stay awake for too long!” she grinned.

She lay down, snuggling into Blue’s fur and her breathing got steady real fast. Blue was looking around and kept watch for her.

He must have fallen asleep sometime without noticing but when he opened his eyes the sun was down for good and the cold had already crept on earth. He shuddered. He stood up and looked around. Something felt off. He nudged at her face and woofed, he didn’t want to startle her.

She kept her eyes shut. He nudged her again. No reaction. Blue starred at her and nudged her again. And again. And again. She just wouldn’t open her eyes. Maybe she was just really tired. Blue lay beside her again, crawling near her because she was way too cold and he didn’t want her to get sick.

The next morning she wouldn’t wake up or the morning after that. Blue tried find food that she could eat when she finally woke up but at the end of the day he had to eat alone. He actually knew what was going on but that just couldn’t be right. He had found her after he thought he lost everyone just to lose her again? Impossible.

He didn’t know how much time has passed but his stomach was hurting from being too hungry for too long. He nudged her face again. No reaction. He licked her hand and walked the street further on. She had been strong.

After a few days without food Blue thought maybe he should have stayed with her. Being alone in this vast world just was too cruel. He actually was just on his way to find a good resting place when he picked up the scent of food. His mouth was watering. He sniffed again and lumbered in its direction.

He saw two people laying on the ground, sleeping. Maybe he could be really, really quiet and get something. So he walked closer sniffing for the food when one of them sprung to their feed and wielding a long stick. But Blue was just too tired. Maybe that was his end.

But to his surprise she lowered her bat and crotched down to him.

“Hey, boy, what’s up?” Blue didn’t realize that he must gave a really pitying look because the girl thought she had frightened him. And then the other person gave him food.

Maybe it was not the end. Maybe just another beginning. He could try again and could be strong for her, too.


	3. The exiled Elf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, a little more insight on what happened you could say :)
> 
> I am so unhappy with this chapter that could have been so much better.. Tomorrow's chapter will be much more interesting!

It was a shock to all of them. Everything happened so fast they weren’t able to react whatsoever and now they are here on this strange, strange planet with all of these curious species. They look plain and clueless and they are probably even more confused as what happened as they are.

Their people and they were one of the first to walk on this planet and to discover this region. Fortunately, no one was greatly injured just minor injuries here and there but overall their bodies were quite robust and did absorb most of the impact. When they laid eyes on the inhabitants of this planets, however, these creatures weren’t as lucky as them.

At first, they didn’t pay attention to the other inhabitants, they were occupied with their own people anyway, and they wanted to see if they can go home as fast as possible. But, soon it was visible that this won’t be happening.

Their peoples and they made camp somewhere nearby to rest, they had to plan their next step. They stayed there for a few days but this peace didn’t last long. The humans, he later on learned how they are called, attacked them. It was just with stones and bats first, but they literally hunted them with fire and weapons they didn’t know. They were loud and something was shooting out of them. Some of their friends died because of it. They had to leave them behind to flee and to survive.

What was happening? Why were they hunted? It was not like they wanted this to happen and they didn’t do anything? It was just too much for them.

When they finally found some place save in something that looked like a city that collapsed because of the impact they made everyone swear to never try to interact with them and to stay out of their way.

A few days went by without any major incidents and they all felt a little safer to explore their surroundings.

“Kor’an!” someone called out to them. “Please be careful. You never know what might happen.” Kor’an nodded. They knew, after what has happened they were still in shock and they needed some time alone to sort out their thoughts. Were these humans really that dangerous? Or were they just afraid and didn’t know how to handle the situation?

They walked through the stoned paths that linked all the houses together. It was even more quiet than at their home. Just once in a while they heard in some distance a faint noise when another rubble or something fell down. Or so they thought.

They were kind of spaced out wandering through the rubble that was just everywhere, when they heard a sound they couldn’t place. They stopped in their tracks and listened. It came from one of the collapsed houses. They hesitated because they knew it probably was one of the humans and they swore to not interact with them and to leave them to their fates.

They breathed out. Slowly they approached the fallen debris where the sound was coming from. It was something between a whimper and some subdued words. Kor’an looked over one bolder and saw a human cowering on the ground, one of their legs stuck under rocks.

Kor’an swallowed. He knocked against the stone he was staying on top of to make them aware of their present. The person startled and looked up. At first their eyes widened in fear but it was gone in the next second. They were just so desperate.

“Are you okay?” Obviously, they were not, but Kor’an didn’t know what to do and better say something and not just stare at them in silence.

But whatever they said, Kor’an didn’t understand. They looked at them with a troubled face.

“I’m sorry, I do not understand.” They slowly crouched down to them. “Are you hurting?”

The person shook their head and looked at Kor’an as troubled as they were. They stared at each other for a few seconds until the person gestured to them that they wanted something into their mouth.

Kor’an’s ears twitched in recognition. “Do you want something to eat? To drink?” They nodded and made an effort to show them to wait for them a bit. They climbed out of the rubble and did a short run back to their camp. There they tried to be as normal as possible and wasn’t noticed as they packed in some of the food and a bottle they found in this place.

Kor’an tried human food and drink some time ago and they weren’t too keen on it, but they and their people were happy that their bodies didn’t reject it so they had to cope. At least, they didn’t need much of it to survive.

It didn’t take them long to grab a few things and to leave without being noticed. They went back to the collapsed house and their insides went a little warm when they saw how relieved the other person was to see them back.

They sat down in front of them and gave them all the stuff they brought. The other person was speechless. For a second they just stared but then with water filled eyes they gulped down the water and food as fast as possible. Understandable, they probably didn’t eat for days.

In between their bites and gulps they said some words over and over again which Kor’an didn’t understand but he smiled at them. They ate the last piece of food and looked way better than before, most of all more relaxed.

When Kor’an wanted to say something to them a shadow was casted above them. They both looked up and they saw Kor’an’s people. Kor’an swallowed. That couldn’t be good. They slowly stood up standing in front of the person they just shared their food with.

“I couldn’t just let them die.” They had to look at their disappointed, angry eyes and to show strength. They were by no means their leader and to oppose their oath was no trivial offense. Their people just stared at them and they knew, they already made up their minds and came here with a decision.

Two of them sprung down to them crushing down on Kor’an and pining them on the floor. Kor’an couldn’t look up but they heard their leader speaking.

“You will stay here. You have no place with us anymore.” Their voice was deep and was sparkling with authority and no one dared to object something they say not even Kor’an who was just cast out because of… helping a human. They clenched their teeth.

The two who held them down grabbed their arms and tied their hands on their back and dragged them to a nearby pipe that was sticking out and tied him to it.

Kor’an looked at them shocked.

“You… leave me here to die? You not only want to cast me out which dishonors me already but this?” Their voice trembled. Their previous comrades didn’t say a word and climbed up. The leader looked down to them.

“I leave you to watch. Like they watched us die, too.” They turned their back on them. “Maybe you will get lucky like them and someone will come for you… if you wail enough.”

Kor’an was dumbfounded. They knew since the impact their leader changed and the hunt of them made it worse but they would never had believed their leader was capable of something like this. “I am not the traitor of our clan. You are.” He growled.

The other person looked in fear back and forth between them until they were alone again. Their eyes filled with water again, Kor’an still wondered what that could mean, and mumbled some words to them.

They just shook their head. Nothing they can do now. Maybe they could have done more before but Kor’an never imagined their daily lives would end up like this.

The big sun went up and down a few times and in between they both talked as if they would understand each other. Sometimes Kor’an tried to learn their language and they learnt a few words but nothing more. Their companion’s name was Sara and lived alone in her apartment so there was no one else who would look for her anyway. Kor’an could more or less understand that there were other people who gave her something to eat and drink but left her for good after they saw that they couldn’t help her out of here.

The sun went up for the fifth time when Kor’an looked at the pale, lifeless face of their companion. In the end they just made everything harder for her. Maybe this was just the punishment they deserved.


	4. The young Survivor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young boy tries to find his way in this new world!

After everything calmed down a day or two later, he was like an empty shell. He had no one left, everyone died and he was all alone. He couldn’t cry anymore his eyes were completely dried out and there was nothing he could do. No one would care either way. They all were looking for their friends and family and they couldn’t care less about a lonely child.

For another day he just went with the flow and followed the adults around to get at least something to eat and drink but they didn’t even look at him properly much less asked him about his family or to whom he belonged. The day after, he took some of the food and drinks and left the little community the others had built.

Overall all he felt was apathy. He was overwhelmed with everything and he didn’t know how and what to change so he could feel better. He just knew he couldn’t stay with them anymore. So, he had find some place he could call his own.

After just a few days he reached another town which looked as bad as his hometown. But no people stayed around here. He walked the streets along but everything was silent and it helped him relax at least for a little bit.

He walked past a house, that seemed to have a few stories but collapsed to the ground, but not too close because he was actually afraid to see corpses. Well, more than he already did. But even in a good distance he heard some noises. It didn’t sound like collapsing rubble, more like someone speaking.

He stopped and listened, however, all he could hear was that someone was speaking but not what. Breathing in he gathered all his courage and walked over to the debris. He had to climb a few crushed concrete panels until he found the source of the voice. When he reached the last boulder from which he looked down he was frightened to the core.

There was a woman lying on the ground half crushed and dead. She looked pale and he could see that flies were already all over her body so she had to be dead for a couple of days already. On the opposite site of the small space was another person tied to a pipe.

He ducked his head so the person wouldn’t notice him but he already saw that they were not normal. Like, something looked off about them. He already saw long pointy ears which indicated that this was no normal human, even more their arms and legs seemed to be too long? He couldn’t say.

At first, he thought the creature killed the woman but they were obviously tied up so what happened? When he listened to the words they said he had to swallow.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…” over and over again. Their tongue made a strange click at the end of the word and it all was just too grotesque.

Slowly he crawled back down again, running down the street without turning back. There could be no good thing coming from interacting with that creature. He heard about them. They were those things that did all of this and they were here to kill all the humans.

After the next crossing he slowed down out of breath. But then… Why did they apologize? He chewed on his lip undecided. On the one hand he was so afraid of them but on the other hand he was way too curious about them. Balling his fists, he turned back to the house and took on step after another towards it again.

After a felt eternity he reached the house and still heard the muffled “sorry”’s from inside. With trembling hands he climbed back to them and it took all his strength when he called out: “Hey.”

The creature stopped saying sorry and looked up. Their eyes were wide and big and they probably didn’t believe someone would show up.

“Did you… did you kill her?” the boy’s voice failed there for a second but he pretended he didn’t notice.

They just stared at him and didn’t say anything.

He swallowed. His mouth felt awfully dry. “Did you?” he nodded to her to underline his question. They finally broke their gaze from him and looked at the woman and back to him. They probably realized then what he was asking and shook his head heavy.

Did he believe him? Well, he wasn’t so sure about it. Nevertheless, he carefully climbed down to them where his heart was beating fast in his chest because of fear, mostly. He didn’t look at the woman knowing that she looked a mess.

Carefully he went around the thing and looked at the rope which tied them to the pipe but didn’t look too sturdy or well knotted.

“I’m gonna untie you but I dare you to do somethin’ funny.” He mumbled more to himself than addressing them. He crotched down and had to pull just a few times at the rope and it became loose. They rubbed their wrists and after looking at the woman for some time he turned to him and quietly said: “Thank you.”

“Haa..” he sighed. He didn’t know what to do next. A little lost he let go of the rope and rubbed his hands on his pants. “Well, uhm…” He scratched his head and pointed up the debris. “Let’s go out of here, first.” After climbing up and they didn’t follow him he looked back down and waved them up. “Come on!”

Back on the street they both stared at each other.

“So… I take it you can’t understand me?” he raised an eyebrow in question but got nothing than a stare of them. He shook his head. Well, they didn’t look or act as dangerous as he was told they would be.

The creature pointed at themselves: “Kor’an.”

He blinked. “Kor’an?” The other one nodded. “Kor’an…” he couldn’t pronounce it right as far as he could hear. He wasn’t able to produce the clicking sound in the middle but Kor’an didn’t seem to mind.

He pointed at himself: “Josh.” His name was actually Joshua, but to explain them names and nicknames seemed impossible for now.

Kor’an nodded. “Josh.” It sounded smooth on their lips and there was another click at the end of the word which Josh found weirdly endearing.

“So, Kor’an… What’s your plan?” he pointed at different directions to show them what he had asked. Kor’an looked up and down the street. As lost as Josh. Josh stared at Kor’an and was contemplating with himself. Was he really as bold as to take them with him? Certainly, only if they want to.

So, Josh pulled on their sleeve and nodded them in a direction. Kor’an came willingly.

In the years coming they both learned a lot from each other, most of if after Kor’an learned Josh’s language and even Josh attempted some tries to understand Kor’an’s language but failed miserably. Mostly, because he just was really bad at learning other language and secondly, because there were way too many things Kor’an didn’t know of and had no words for them.

Among other things Josh learnt that Kor’an could only say “thank you” and “sorry” because of the woman that lay with them that day. Kor’an told him about them helping the woman and how they were casted out because of that and how they had to watch her die.

They didn’t encounter any other people and, therefore, there were only ever the two of you and one evening Kor’an seemed a little restless.

“What’s up?” Josh asked with raised eyebrows. “You look like you wanna ditch me.”

Kor’an shook his head. “Never.” They looked appalled at Josh. “I just…”, they averted their gaze, “I have a question. I do not know if it is too insensitive.”

Now, Josh was even more curious. They sat around a little camp fire in which Josh was picking with a stick. “Ask away.”

Kor’an waited for another second before speaking up: “I was wondering. I only ever saw very few of you humans. And”, he hesitated, “I am not sure if I am wrong but you seem from a different race than the ones I saw. But you only talk about humans as one race.”

Josh blinked at him. “You mean ‘cause I’m black?” He laughed.

Kor’an blinked at him in return. “Did I say something funny?” “No, no, sorry.” Josh grinned. “I suppose I just assumed you had your own little quirks within your race and didn’t bother thinking my skin color.” Josh leaned back.

“No, we are all one race just that some have a different skin color or I don’t know shapes of faces or something looks different. But we’re all the same.”

Kor’an nodded. “Huh. We have many different races from where I come from. I am sorry for assuming wrong.”

Josh shook his head. “No worries. Even our people sometimes think there are different races and some even think they are superior to the others.” His laugh was bitter and Kor’an swallowed. Maybe this question wasn’t a good topic.

“I am sorry for upsetting you.”

Josh threw his stick into the fire. “It’s okay, I just… Well, I don’t know how good I am in explaining. But there were many difficulties between humans just because of skin color of beliefs and well, the world was in a dark place even before this. Not your fault.”

Kor’an nodded. They didn’t understand but they knew this was not the time to ask any further, not until they knew more about this strange, strange place.


	5. The warrior Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another short story about some life that went upside down!

There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing. Her home, her family, her belongings, everything was gone. And there was nothing she could do to change that. She was used to things not going her way and that she had to manage somehow but this was on a whole new level.

She had lived with her three brothers in a smelly apartment alone. Their mother had a new boyfriend every other week and was actually never home. The girl was surprised her mother even paid rent anymore. Or at least, part of it. Every now and then electricity went out or there was no hot water or sometimes no water at all.

But she managed. She took care of her younger brothers so they had three meals a day and the oldest of them went to school. The other two she had to take care of while she was cleaning and cooking and everything else. A year prior, when she was twelve, she stopped going to school, she didn’t have time for that anymore. But she was determined, that her brothers got the education they deserved and as soon as she turned 16 and she could work a little bit, she would move out with them.

Well, but then it happened. And all her dreams and hopes and plans went up in flames. She didn’t care if her mother survived, but her brothers, oh, her brothers. She cried and screamed when she was searching for her brothers in the house that was reduced to rubble. She was just out to went grocery shopping. She should have been in there, her brothers just have played outside.

She dug until her fingers were bleeding but that didn’t stop her. Not until she found one of them. Crushed and almost unrecognizable. But she knew the shirt and the shorts and the black hair that a small whirl in the front. She threw up and coughed. That couldn’t be happening.

 It took her a few days until she stopped searching for the other two. There were too many boulders she couldn’t move and in secret she already knew. She knew that she won’t find them and even if, they would be dead like the one she found.

She sat on the side of the street, totally lost on what to do. When she saw people gathering nearby she just went automatically over and received a bottle filled with water. When she took her first sip she noticed how thirsty and hungry she actually was and gulped down the bottle in one go.

Her eyes filled with water again. But this time not because of her loss but because she was frustrated and angry at herself. She let herself to be in such a pitiful state and betrayed her brothers. She wouldn’t give up, she never did and she certainly wouldn’t now. She clenched her teeth to suppress a scream.

She stayed at this gathering for some time, at least she got a little bit of food and water and to plan her next step. It was plain simple to her that she wouldn’t stay here and just wait and rot for something, anything, to happen. She would take care of herself. But before that she had to know where to go.

After a week she horded enough supplies to finally leave. She still didn’t know where to go, all she learned was that this happened everywhere and there is nowhere to go actually. But that never stopped her anyway.

She stole away in the night so she could avoid being questioned and, furthermore, being stopped since adults tend to patronize her because she was a girl and being young didn’t help her.

After about five years, she had to undergo many events in which she was undermined just because of her gender and it made her furious. She had decided to live only on her own and to not rely on anybody else. That was another reason why she didn’t want to go to The Hive where everybody else was heading she met on her way.

The sun was at its highest point and she went through some kind of desert where everywhere was surrounded by huge walls of rocks. Here she had at least shadows shielding her from the heat. She was about to make a short stop to rest when she heard a noise she couldn’t pinpoint. It sounded weird in the way, not human but not mechanical. Not that she had ever heard a machine since it happened.

She stopped dead in her tracks. The noise came closer, just slowly but steady. She looked around and just found a small boulder on the side but better than nothing. She made a little jump and was behind it but it barely covered her figure.

She didn’t dare to look over the boulder afraid that whatever there was might see her so he had to endure. The slow steps stomped down on the ground and a loud echo went through the path. She closed her eyes and just hoped it went by. But of course, she never had that much luck.

The steps stopped in front of the rock she was hiding behind. Some silent seconds went by and she finally was courageous enough to open on eye. Not one second too late. Right next to her was a small cord creeping up to her at which end something camera-liked was attached. Right out of this camera shined a laser right beside her head and drilled a hole into the boulder.

She sprung up and rolled to the side. Now she stood in front of the machine. It looked strangely human like with a head and arms and legs but too many cables dangled around its body. The cord that shoot this laser at her moved back to the machine and was pointing at her again.

“What on earth…?” The cord glowed up again and she made it in time to dodge the laser again. She didn’t know what that thing was or why it attacked her but she knew she had to defeat it if she wanted to survive.

She run around the machine which was awfully slow except for the laser that followed her every step and shot one laser after another at her. She ran zig-zag away from the machine. She threw a look over her shoulder but as she thought, that thing was just too slow to follow her.

However, her curiosity wasn’t satisfied. She waited around the next corner, still hearing the footsteps following after her, and picked up a rather large rock. She kneeled down and waited. It too it some time to come this far but eventually the camera/laser thing crawled around the corner and then she smashed the rock right on it. The cord switched violently and the next second it stopped moving. She breathed out after holding her breath.

She looked around the corner and saw the machine stand a bit lost in one place. Its head moved around as if it were blind. But she never took chances. She grabbed the rock again and made a sprint up to the machine, jumped and rammed the rock into its head.

She let herself fall back and rolled up. There was some electrical noise and the machine struggled to stay straight just to fall down in a lump.

That was easier than she thought. Still cautious she walked closer to the machine which was still twitching but went quiet after a few more seconds. She swallowed. What is that thing? Maybe… It was one of the things that came down with it that day. She heard about some weird incidents since then.

But if all of them were in such a shabby condition she couldn’t believe humans were that powerless against them. But maybe, or more possible, just this one was in a bad condition and got separated from the others.

She thought for a second. Yes, that was what she was going to do. She had to find out more about this species that came to them. She had to learn and in case had to stop them.


	6. Background Exiled Elf/Young Survivor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, basically it's another chapter about Kor'an and Josh b/c I really like those two and I wanted to give some more information about them. The actual prompt was "The fallen Starchild" but whatever I came up with didn't make sense in my overall story so I will leave that one out!
> 
> I'm sorry it's rather short! Uni started again and I don't have much time on hands so there are a few chapters missing but I will try my best to make them all!

As they walked from place to place, they came across a few other groups but always tried to not get too close or to get noticed. They both knew Kor’an meant bad news to them. Josh didn’t care. He knew that somehow humans made up their minds on something they didn’t know or understand and nothing was going to change their minds, he knew all too well.

After they avoided another group Kor’an had to ask. At first, they made just attempts to speak up but didn’t know how to start this subject still in mind the failure with talking about skin color. Josh noticed Kor’an’s rather strange behavior but didn’t say anything and waited for Kor’an to collect their thoughts.

“When I see groups of humans”, they began slowly, drawing Josh’s attention to them, “I noticed that there are different… types of humans.” They cocked their head to the side, sounding more like thinking aloud. “Not only in features in their faces or body heights or something like that, but… I do not know how to explain this.” They crossed their arms. “And there is some kind of order type does which assignment.”

Josh raised an eyebrow in question but finally understands, hit his one hand with his fist. “Ah, do you mean men and women?”

Kor’an had a questioning face and Josh realized asking about the thing they didn’t understand didn’t make much sense.

“Sorry, sorry. I think, you mean that there are two sexes. Men and women.”

Kor’an nodded. “That could be it.”

“Well”, Josh crossed his arms behind his head. “Mainly, humans need those two sexes to reproduce. Like, uhm, the men give women their… seeds... and the women have to carry out a child.” Josh blushed furiously and was happy that he was walking slightly ahead of Kor’an.

“Huh.” Kor’an nodded. “So, you are a woman?” Kor’an noticed the main features that differentiated men and women on firs sight. They didn’t even finish their sentence and sensed tension from Josh.

“Well, no.” Josh exhaled. He looked really uncomfortable and Kor’an regretted again, asking a question.

“I am sorry.”

“Argh, don’t be!” Josh roughed up his hair. “This is just a topic… It’s hard to explain.” He hung his head. “Okay, so, biological, I mean just from the outside I am still a woman.” He looked rather disgusted down at his body. “It’s like… I am trapped in the wrong body. I don’t know if that makes sense to you. Sometimes… nature does mistakes, I guess.” He shrugged. “There is way more to talk about sexes and genders, but I am not too knowledgeable about that either… Like, there are genders in which you feel like you belong to both sexes or to none or you have a gender, uhm, that’s either men nor woman… I don’t know much about that.”

He exhaled again. Josh didn’t think he would have to talk about that ever again. He had some talks with his father who was really understanding and helped him figure things out but his mother wouldn’t hear any of it and since he was only about 11 that he thought about this stuff, there was not much he could do. And then it happened.

“For example”, he continued with a new thought, “I don’t know which gender you are or if you even have a gender so I use “they” as pronoun for you, that’s pretty genderless.”

Kor’an nodded. “I think, I understand what you mean.” They walked a little faster walking besides Josh again. Their eyes had this spark whenever they are curious and Josh just couldn’t look at him without a little jolt in his gut.

“Where I come from there are no men or women. However, we do need two different species of the same kind to reproduce… Well, most of the time. We can change our… gender, if you want to call it that way. So, it does not matter which mate you choose. And you can choose which mate lays the egg.”

“Hold on!” Josh turned back to him. “You lay eggs?!”

Kor’an blinked. “Yes? Is that not the standard way?” Josh sighed. “Well, I don’t say it’s weird or strange, but humans do not lay egg. The baby, well, grows within a human and then comes out when it can live on its own, you know?”

“Huh.” Kor’an nodded again and Josh could literally see how Kor’an made mental notes. “Sometimes, one can produce an egg on its own. They can be those two ‘genders’ at the same time and do not need another mate. They are kind of, high valued in our society. It means they are independent and could start a colony of their own.”

Josh crunched his face. Impregnate oneself didn’t sound really enjoyable. But he rather not thought about this stuff right now.

Kor’an told him a lot more about their ways of society and their overall structure in communities and Josh felt so much more content with Koran than he was ever with another human.


	7. The Hunter Android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An android on this foreign planet, what to do?

Its memory was removed about every two years except for its assignment, therefore, it didn’t remember about any incident on a planet or about the different species. It just thought about its task it had to finish, for that he existed.

On its journey through this strange place it saw many different things like creatures and plants and general shapes of rocks that it never saw before. It memorized all of it in its data bank, a part of it which wouldn’t be erased. It tried to collect as much information as possible about this place so it can be transferred to its mother ship as soon as it was done with its current mission.

After a rather short time it got a notice of an exiled that must be confined. Since it had been only days when it received this notice it didn’t know anything about this place and it spent months to roam through cities and villages and fields to find this exile but to no avail. Whenever it got an update of this exile it seemed that they changed places all the time, too, which made it even more difficult to find them.

Its memory was erased the second time and it didn’t get any more updates on the exiled one so it didn’t know if the mother ship was even intact anymore. It contemplated what the next logical step was. Its program said it has to follow its orders and had to find the culprit but when its base wasn’t even operating anymore did it even had any orders?

Its decision was that its orders were absolute. Whatever happened at its base it didn’t matter until it found the exiled and brought it back.

But there laid another problem. Since it wasn’t at its mother ship for years in a foreign place it didn’t had a proper inspection in that time and the environment here made its condition even worse. It noticed problems first in daily motions like moving its arms and legs, which reduced its speed significantly and it spread to its control panel inside. It no longer knew what was important anymore and what was junk information and all was jumbled up.

When it couldn’t walk at its normal pace anymore and looking around and gathering information was only possible with its exterior camera it also learnt to take its time to really see what was around it. It saw the trees and mountains and the sea and in some places not everything was destroyed so it could actually observe current and ancient architecture of this place. There was so much information it never noticed it grasped.

It reached a field of huge rocks and from it, it received a faint signal. Was it them? Its alarm inside its control went on and it couldn’t form a logical process anymore. It just thought it had to capture.

But it ended disastrous. It was aware that its body was in no condition to fight yet alone properly function. But all its control center was signaling it was to capture this life form. Instead this life form fought back, in no way too gracious or skilled but against it weakened self it was plenty. It only took them some cool head and a rock and that was one of the last thing it saw.

When it circuit did its last impulses, it saw the pictures it saved from this planet. It saw the sea and the grass surrounding it, it knew what smell was in the air and its last moments it was conscious it thought that this place was not as bad as it initially thought. It should have seen more of it.


End file.
